Lets face it, no matter your size every woman wants to either lose a few pounds or just tone up a bit more before beach/vacation season. Nobody wants to get into their bikini with their pale wintry skin and to top it off 5-10-15 extra pounds that they didn't have last year, and best of all, nobody has to! Here's how! We've got 4-5 months to get our bodies all set for swimsuit season so the sooner we start the better!
1. If you want to lose weight, set a goal. Make your goal reasonable one. A reasonable weight loss goal is about 2 pounds a week. Any more than that and it can be unhealthy and practically impossible, which will lead to us getting discouraged. But 2 pounds a week is definitely a good goal!
2. Ditch the crash diet idea! ....if your on a diet of bananas and water of course you will lose weight (on the scale)...but if you starve your self and don't give your body enough calories or nutrients you'll also lose muscle, and muscle is what makes our bodies look fit and toned! We DON'T want to lose that! If you lose muscle your body will actually look more flabby even though you may weigh less. That being said eat a good and balanced diet. This means lean meats, (a good portion size for you is the size of your fist) whole grains (don't be fooled by brown white bread, make sure the label says made with 100% whole wheat flour.) Dark Leafy Greens, and as many fruits and vegetables as you like!
4. Keep a journal and log EVERY SINGLE THING you put in your mouth.......and don't cheat! You'll be amazed by all the little..."I'll just have a little Oreo here" and a "little teenie bite of cake there" Those calories SERIOUSLY add up and can sabotage an otherwise healthy diet plan. Having to actually write down each thing you eat will cause you to think a little bit more before grabbing that quick Oreo or scoop of Ben and Jerry's out of the fridge! ;) (I know I'm not the only one!)
5. Drink water! I know you've heard it a million times, but water is your best friend! Many times we confuse hunger with thirst. So if we keep our thirst quenched we may be less likely to over eat and snack on junk food.
6. Whether we like it or not, one of the fastest and easiest ways to lose body fat is to RUN. I know many women loathe running. I'll admit running can be hard to get into, but once your into it...you'll be addicted! But it's a pretty great thing to be addicted to! For me I love to run because its so relaxing to me, and the endorphin high after a run is unlike anything else! I haven't always been a runner, but from now on I guarantee, as long as my legs are in tact, I'll be a runner for life! As I mentioned I have not always been a runner, never in a million years did I think I would train for any sort of marathon, and what do you know?! But here's how I started out! Nice and slow! Building up anybody can do it!
7. Incorporate weight/strength training into your workout. It is a common myth that lifting weights will give you big bulky "man" muscles. This is SO untrue. Unless you are on supplements/steroids a woman's body will not form big bulky Arnold muscles. We don't have enough testosterone to grow muscles that big! Weight training builds lean muscle and muscle burns fat. WE WANT MUSCLE! Nice lean feminine sexy muscle! The more muscle you put on your body the more calories the those will burn for you through out the day! Pilate's exercises are great for building lean muscle. I also like to use free weights! If you are just starting out use 3-5 pounds if you are more advanced use 10-15 (for legs and some arm exercises you'll probably use even heavier free weights 20-25 ibs) Maybe I'll post some exercises tomorrow!
***HOW TO BECOME A RUNNER FOR BEGINNERS***
Day 1: Go out buy some cute workout clothes so that you'll want to workout, and feel a little bit cute while doing it :) Maybe a new pair of tennies or a hat? Something you feel good about yourself in. Download some new music and you'll be on to a good start!
Day 2: Get on a treadmill run as long as you possibly can....maybe its only 2 minutes and that's fine! maybe its more Just remember no matter how fast you go, your lapping everyone laying on the couch...this is the first day so don't push it too hard but still try and challenge yourself. So lets say you can run a good 5 minutes strong by the time you start to feel tired (maybe its only 2) But for the example lets say you can run 5....so your tired, but not like "I'm about to pass out tired" just plain old "exhausted" okay? So now you know your breaking point is about 5 minutes....so from now on you are going to run 5 minutes rest 1 minute run 5 minutes rest 1 minute until we get to 30 minutes total. Do this everyday and when you feel like your run is getting stronger add a minute to your run so your doing 6 minutes 1 minute rest 6, instead of 5. and keep adding a minute when you feel up to it. Before long you'll be able to ditch the rests and run through the full 30 minutes without stopping and from there just keep adding minutes and before you know it you'll be training for a marathon! I know this works! This is how I did it and I know if it worked for me it can work for anyone! I also counseled a friend of mine and she informed me just today that after using this run sequence she has lost 16 pounds in just a few months! So exciting!
Its January 25. Right now we've got plenty of time to get in shape before summer time...don't wait till May this year! Give yourself plenty of time and get fit the healthy way. Slow and steady wins the race! :-) Now go get em! :D
Hilly! You posted this just. in. time. I've recently been trying to lose weight and I was getting discouraged but now I'm ready to get backin the game! Your blog is awesome! You go girl!!!
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